M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Nazirites
6 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When either men or women make a special vow, the vow of a nazirite, to separate themselves to the Lord,(A) 3 they shall separate themselves from wine and strong drink; they shall drink no wine vinegar or other vinegar and shall not drink any grape juice or eat grapes, fresh or dried. 4 All their days as nazirites they shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, not even the seeds or the skins.
5 “All the days of their nazirite vow no razor shall come upon the head; until the time is completed for which they separate themselves to the Lord, they shall be holy; they shall let the locks of the head grow long.(B)
6 “All the days that they separate themselves to the Lord they shall not go near a corpse.(C) 7 Even if their father or mother, brother or sister, should die, they may not defile themselves, because their consecration to God is upon the head. 8 All their days as nazirites they are holy to the Lord.
9 “If someone suddenly dies nearby, defiling the head of the nazirite, then they shall shave the head on the day of their cleansing; on the seventh day they shall shave it. 10 On the eighth day they shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting,(D) 11 and the priest shall offer one as a purification offering and the other as a burnt offering and make atonement for them, because they incurred guilt by reason of the corpse. They shall sanctify the head that same day 12 and separate themselves to the Lord for their days as nazirites and bring a male lamb a year old as a guilt offering. The former time shall be void because the nazarite was defiled.(E)
13 “This is the law for the nazirites when the time of their consecration has been completed: they shall be brought to the entrance of the tent of meeting,(F) 14 and they shall offer their gift to the Lord, one male lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering, one ewe lamb a year old without blemish as a purification offering, one ram without blemish as an offering of well-being,(G) 15 and a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of choice flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers spread with oil, with their grain offering and their drink offerings.(H) 16 The priest shall present them before the Lord and offer their purification offering and burnt offering 17 and offer the ram as a sacrifice of well-being to the Lord, with the basket of unleavened bread; the priest also shall make the accompanying grain offering and drink offering. 18 Then the nazirites shall shave the consecrated head at the entrance of the tent of meeting and shall take the hair from the consecrated head and put it on the fire under the sacrifice of well-being.(I) 19 The priest shall take the shoulder of the ram, when it is boiled, and one unleavened cake out of the basket and one unleavened wafer and shall put them in the palms of the nazirites, after they have shaved the consecrated head. 20 Then the priest shall elevate them as an elevation offering before the Lord; they are a holy portion for the priest, together with the breast that is elevated and the thigh that is offered. After that the nazirites may drink wine.
21 “This is the law for the nazirites who take a vow. Their offering to the Lord must be in accordance with the nazirite vow, apart from what else they can afford. In accordance with whatever vow they take, so they shall do, following the law for their consecration.”
The Priestly Benediction
22 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying: Thus you shall bless the Israelites: You shall say to them:(J)
24 The Lord bless you and keep you;(K)
25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;(L)
26 the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.(M)
27 “So they shall put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”(N)
Psalm 40
Thanksgiving for Deliverance and Prayer for Help
To the leader. Of David. A Psalm.
1 I waited patiently for the Lord;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.(A)
2 He drew me up from the desolate pit,[a]
out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
making my steps secure.(B)
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear
and put their trust in the Lord.(C)
4 Happy are those who make
the Lord their trust,
who do not turn to the proud,
to those who go astray after false gods.(D)
5 You have multiplied, O Lord my God,
your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;
none can compare with you.
Were I to proclaim and tell of them,
they would be more than can be counted.(E)
6 Sacrifice and offering you do not desire,
but you have given me an open ear.[b]
Burnt offering and sin offering
you have not required.(F)
7 Then I said, “Here I am;
in the scroll of the book it is written of me.[c]
8 I delight to do your will, O my God;
your law is within my heart.”(G)
9 I have told the glad news of deliverance
in the great congregation;
see, I have not restrained my lips,
as you know, O Lord.(H)
10 I have not hidden your saving help within my heart;
I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness
from the great congregation.(I)
11 Do not, O Lord, withhold
your mercy from me;
let your steadfast love and your faithfulness
keep me safe forever.(J)
12 For evils have encompassed me
without number;
my iniquities have overtaken me
until I cannot see;
they are more than the hairs of my head,
and my heart fails me.(K)
13 Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me;
O Lord, make haste to help me.(L)
14 Let all those be put to shame and confusion
who seek to snatch away my life;
let those be turned back and brought to dishonor
who desire my hurt.(M)
15 Let those be appalled because of their shame
who say to me, “Aha, Aha!”(N)
16 But may all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who love your salvation
say continually, “Great is the Lord!”(O)
17 As for me, I am poor and needy,
but the Lord takes thought for me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
do not delay, O my God.(P)
Psalm 41
Assurance of God’s Help and a Plea for Healing
To the leader. A Psalm of David.
1 Happy are those who consider the poor;[d]
the Lord delivers them in the day of trouble.(Q)
2 The Lord protects them and keeps them alive;
they are called happy in the land.
You do not give them up to the will of their enemies.(R)
3 The Lord sustains them on their sickbed;
in their illness you heal all their infirmities.[e](S)
4 As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me;
heal me, for I have sinned against you.”(T)
5 My enemies wonder in malice
when I will die and my name perish.(U)
6 And when they come to see me, they utter empty words
while their hearts gather mischief;
when they go out, they tell it abroad.(V)
7 All who hate me whisper together about me;
they imagine the worst for me.(W)
8 They think that a deadly thing has fastened on me,
that I will not rise again from where I lie.(X)
9 Even my close friend in whom I trusted,
who ate of my bread, has lifted the heel against me.(Y)
10 But you, O Lord, be gracious to me,
and raise me up, that I may repay them.(Z)
11 By this I know that you are pleased with me:
because my enemy has not triumphed over me.(AA)
12 But you have upheld me because of my integrity
and set me in your presence forever.(AB)
13 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
Amen and Amen.(AC)
The Young Woman’s Beauty Extolled
4 How beautiful you are, my love,
how very beautiful!
Your eyes are doves
behind your veil.
Your hair is like a flock of goats,
moving down the slopes of Gilead.(A)
2 Your teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes
that have come up from the washing,
all of which bear twins,
and not one among them is bereaved.(B)
3 Your lips are like a crimson thread,
and your mouth is lovely.
Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate
behind your veil.(C)
4 Your neck is like the tower of David,
built in courses;
on it hang a thousand bucklers,
all of them shields of warriors.(D)
5 Your two breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle,
that feed among the lilies.(E)
6 Until the day breathes
and the shadows flee,
I will hasten to the mountain of myrrh
and the hill of frankincense.(F)
7 You are altogether beautiful, my love;
there is no flaw in you.(G)
8 Come with me from Lebanon, my bride;
come with me from Lebanon.
Depart[a] from the peak of Amana,
from the peak of Senir and Hermon,
from the dens of lions,
from the mountains of leopards.(H)
9 You have ravished my heart, my sister, my bride;
you have ravished my heart with a glance of your eyes,
with one jewel of your necklace.(I)
10 How sweet is your love, my sister, my bride!
How much better is your love than wine
and the fragrance of your oils than any spice!(J)
11 Your lips distill nectar, my bride;
honey and milk are under your tongue;
the scent of your garments is like the scent of Lebanon.(K)
12 A garden locked is my sister, my bride,
a garden[b] locked, a fountain sealed.(L)
13 Your channel[c] is an orchard of pomegranates
with all choicest fruits,
henna with nard,(M)
14 nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon,
with all trees of frankincense,
myrrh and aloes,
with all chief spices—(N)
15 a garden fountain, a well of living water,
and flowing streams from Lebanon.(O)
16 Awake, O north wind,
and come, O south wind!
Blow upon my garden
that its fragrance may be wafted abroad.
Let my beloved come to his garden
that he may eat its choicest fruits.(P)
The Rest That God Promised
4 Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest is still open, let us take care that none of you should seem to have failed to reach it.(A) 2 For indeed the good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them because they were not united by faith with those who listened.[a](B) 3 For we who have believed are entering that rest, just as God[b] has said,
“As in my anger I swore,
‘They shall not enter my rest,’ ”
though his works were finished since the foundation of the world. 4 For somewhere it speaks about the seventh day as follows, “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.”(C) 5 And again in this place it says, “They shall not enter my rest.” 6 Since therefore it remains open for some to enter it and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, 7 again he sets a certain day—“today”—saying through David much later, in the words already quoted,
“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts.”(D)
8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God[c] would not speak later about another day. 9 So then, a Sabbath rest still remains for the people of God, 10 for those who enter God’s[d] rest also rest from their labors as God did from his. 11 Let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one may fall through such disobedience as theirs.
12 Indeed, the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.(E) 13 And before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account.(F)
Jesus the Great High Priest
14 Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession.(G) 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested[e] as we are, yet without sin.(H) 16 Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.